The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant, botanically known as Geranium cinereum, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Carol.
The new Geranium originated from a cross-pollination of two unidentified selections of Geranium cinereum, not patented. The new Geranium was discovered by the Inventor in 1994 in Newport, England. Plants of the new Geranium differ primarily from plants of the unidentified parental selections in flower color.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by divisions in Newport, England since 1997, has shown that the unique features of this new Geranium are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Carol have not been observed under all possible environmental and cultural conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, daylength, irrigation amount and frequency, and/or fertilizer rate without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Carolxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Carolxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact plant habit.
2. Numerous purple-colored flowers.
3. Long flowering period.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Newport, England, plants of the new Geranium are more floriferous and flower for a longer period of time than plants of the Geranium cinereum cultivar Ballerina, not patented. In addition, plants of the new Geranium have purple-colored flowers whereas plants of the cultivar Ballerina have light pink-colored flowers.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Newport, England, plants of the new Geranium are more compact and have smaller flowers than plants of an unidentified selection of Geranium psilostemon,not patented.